Hi Bell,

 

I don't think there's anything wrong with a little bit of consumer paranoia, as long as it is measured and used more as a healthy suspicion.  I'm not at liberty to talk about any of the work I have done in this area, but I can tell you that the current agenda in marketing is that green sells. Obviously!

 

I do challenge the market research behind this push, because I think when you ask people on a survey about motivation that is "ethical" (or "conscience based"), you will always have more answers in the affirmative than is really the case. It's easy to be green, because you know you "should" be, when you're answering a question - I don't think consumer impulse and the actual point of purchase is the same psychological context. That said, this is why rather thin excuses for being "green" works - because it's really just "okaying" a choice that the consumer was likely to have made, anyway. In fact, I think there's a disadvantage in creating a range of products that probably give people the feeing they've "done their bit", as long as they buy a few products which declare themselves green.

 

But that's all they have to do, after all - they mostly just throw a word around, and hope you believe it. If you actually think about some of the reasons given at the moment in advertising, some of them are quite obviously without much foundation. So, if you're really worried about buying green products, be vigilant and research your choices. Also become familiar with some organisations who are testing products - although some of these can then be slapped across a product that may not be so green in the way it then packages this product, etc - it depends on the level of "green" you're looking for, everyone has different standards on a personal level, too. I suggest Choice Australia for following and understanding these; they always have some great material following this issue and do objective testing on products that is completely unpolluted by public relations, etc. 

 

Basic rules of thumb.... eyes open... think about the hardsell and crack the formula of how they have sat around a boardroom and thought, "Hmmmm, so how can we make this seem green?" The problem with advertising is that most people take it at face value - which you should never, ever do. I know there are a lot of products out there with particularly absurd advertising at the moment, and if you just think about what they're saying, you can see a marketing push that has not the substance all the pictures of breezy fields of green grass try to put forward.

 

I recall an episode of Absolutely Fabulous, where Edina is marketing Pop Specs (know it?) and Saffy sees a sticker with a tree on it and says, "What does that mean?"

 

"Kind to trees, sweety!" replies Edina.

 

"How are they kind to trees?" asks Saffy.

 

"Well, they aint made of wood!"

 

A decade after this show (or is it more? Oh dear, am I getting old?) and this isn't so far fetched, at all.

 

Cheers,

Aaron